COMPOSITION COMPETITION

Adjudicators

Alexander GOrdon

ALEXANDER GORDON IS ONE OF THE MOST VERSATILE MUSICIANS OF HIS GENERATION ON THE MUSIC STAGE TODAY HAVING ACHIEVED INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION AS VIOLIST AND CONDUCTOR.

His conducting debut took place in Finland in 2014 with the Lappeenranta Symphony Orchestra which brought him invitations to conduct Sinfonia Finlandia and Pori Sinfonietta In Finland. In 2017 highly acclaimed concert and Live Broadcast with the Bulgarian National Radio- Symphony Orchestra with Mischa Maisky as a soloist followed by invitations to conduct worldwide. In 2018 he conducted Mannheim Chamber Orchestra and OZM Dortmund in Germany, the Rijeka Opera Theatre in Croatia for performances of Tchaikovsky’s ballet- ”The Nutcracker”. After his debut in China September 2018 with Liaoning Symphony Orchestra established a relationship with several programs for the following seasons. The concert in December 2018 with the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra with Tabea Zimmermann as soloist was very highly acclaimed and brought him numerous re-invitations.

Alexander Gordon is member at the LEAD! program where he is collaborating as viola mentor and conducting assistant of Jukka-Pekka Saraste

In February 2020 he debuted as opera conductor in Aleko by Rachmaninov at the Ukrainian National Opera in Kyiv which followed by immediate re-invitation for next season.

In April 2021 he assisted Vladimir Jurowsky with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. 

In October 2021 he conducted his debut with London Philharmonic Orchestra on a tour in Madrid and Barcelona.

In 2015 Alexander Gordon was appointed artistic director and conductor of the International New Symphony Orchestra (INSO) in Lviv, giving this multinational German-Russian-Ukrainian-Jewish musician the role of an “Ambassador of Peace” in Ukraine, aiming to bring Peace and Unity through music.

At the age of 23 Alexander Gordon was appointed Principal Viola of the London Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2012, after ten years as a leader of the viola section of the the LPO he left to dedicate himself entirely to his demanding career as soloist and conductor. 

Dr. ANDREW MARK SAUERWEIN

Andy has been studying, teaching, and composing music for three decades. He has written more than eighty works in a variety of genres, from solo and chamber works to choral and orchestral pieces, as well as songs, improvisatory works, electronic music, and pieces combining Western instruments with Balinese gamelan. His music has been performed on the concert stage, in churches, in schools, at conferences and public events, on mission trips, at homes, in pubs and coffee shops, and annually on Belhaven University’s Singing Christmas Tree. His work has traveled across the United States and to Canada, Israel, Peru, and Japan.

 Andy’s compositional voice varies with the topic and occasion, yet fairly consistently favors an integrated musical language over a blend of disparate elements — eccentric, perhaps, rather than eclectic — fusing together the familiar and the mysterious in search of calm intensity, pensive wonder, thoughtful curiosity, and a subtle sense of playful humor. He has persistent interests in fathoming the nature of creative activity, fostering community and collaboration in musical practice, and cultivating a thoughtful, circumspect approach to music-making.

Crafton beck

Crafton Beck enters his twenty-first season as Music Director of MSO.  In 2019, he concluded twenty-two years as Music Director and Conductor of the Lima Symphony Orchestra in Ohio. From 1996-2001, he was Music Director of the Florida Symphonic Pops Orchestra in Boca Raton.  He has also appeared as guest conductor with many American orchestras, including the Memphis Symphony, the Arkansas Symphony, and the Mobile Symphony Orchestra.

Born in Arkansas, Mr. Beck studied clarinet for many years before choosing a career in conducting.  He received a Doctorate in Conducting from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music in 1987. Previous studies were at The Ohio State University and the Aspen School. While affiliated with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra in the 1990’s, he arranged over fifty selections which appeared on the orchestra’s many recordings, most of which placed on the Billboard Classical/Crossover charts for best-selling albums. His symphonic work Passage, premiered by the MSO in 2014, received the 2015 Award for Musical Composition by the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters.

MSO finds great pleasure in claiming Crafton Beck as one of our own.